Computer-implemented medical applications can include software programs utilized by medical personnel for performing various tasks and services associated with providing medical services. The medical applications may be used to obtain and/or confirm administrative and substantive information regarding a medical event. Examples of such medical applications include medical coding, electronic health record systems, medical billing systems, speech recognition systems, and medical transcription applications. A medical event may be an office visit by the patient, diagnosis, treatment, medical research, medical topic for classroom instruction or otherwise, or any event associated with a medical area for which administrative and/or substantive information may be needed or confirmed. The medical event may be an office visit by a patient for which a medical provider, such as a doctor, generated notes, medical documentation, or patient instructions.
For example, medical transcription generally involves converting spoken words of a clinician into a text format in electronic form. Examples of content that may be transcribed include notes regarding a patient's visit to the clinician, a hospital or clinic visit, or a recommended or prescribed medication or treatment plan. Typically, medical transcriptionists listen to tapes or voice files containing the clinician's spoken words or acronyms and transcribe them into a text format by entering the text into a word processing or medical transcription software application using a keyboard. Electronic speech recognition software may also automatically detect the clinician's spoken words or acronyms and transcribe them into a text format. A medical transcriptionist may still need to review the transcription to correct spelling, formatting, interpretive errors, or abbreviations that may introduce dangers if incorrectly transcribed as identified by a regulatory agency, or expand an acronym to its full word or phrase.
Medical transcriptionists and medical personnel using other medical applications may need to produce a very high quality and accurate work product while meeting completion deadlines. Often, they perform a significant amount of research to meet quality standards before the clinician will approve the work product. For example, medical personnel may need to consult medical dictionaries, online resources, or other reference material to determine an accurate spelling of a word or other information, such as another physician's complete contact information. Such reference material may include electronic and paper-based tools, such as word lists, medical dictionaries, and drug references. At least some of the reference materials, however, may not be up-to-date in view of the rapid and robust pace at which vocabularies and information changes in the medical field. Use of such reference materials may result in a work product that contains inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise lower quality terminology. The effect of such work product could result in incorrect diagnosis or treatment, leading to less than adequate patient care. Such inadequate care can result in physical harm or even death to the patient.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods that provide medical application users with access to up-to-date medical information that includes reference material. Furthermore, a need exists for systems and methods that provide medical application users with access to reference material in a timely manner.